Perhaps the desire for diversity, education and tolerance attracts people with a certain mindset – according to Fried it’s the key to evolutionary and biological resilience as well as sustainability.  These same people seem also to appreciate Montclair’s layout – a sensible, tree-lined grid of streets with neighborhood commercial zones that evolved around the 6 train stations.  The walkable streets of Montclair, where housing is integrated in many areas with shops, restaurants, parks and public gathering places makes it a model for vibrant community living.

In honor of Earth Day, here now, a partial list of Montclair’s green accomplishments:

• $750,000 grant for NJ’s first Safe Routes to School program
• $100,000 grant for Bike/Pedestrian Plan
• NJ’s first “Boltage” program at Edgemont School, (a trip-logging system for walkers/bikers)
• First community to adopt a Complete Streets policy
• Streets Are For Everyone program (SAFE)
• Tour de Montclair bike tour sponsored by Bike/Walk Montclair
• First municipal electric car charging stations
• Montclair State University’s Institute of Sustainability Studies
• A designated EPA Climate Showcase Community
• NJ’s only  National Wildlife Federation Certified Community Wildlife Habitat
• www.OurPowerMontclair.org website
• www.SafeLawnsMontclair.org

Blues sessions are as follows:

* Week #1: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Aug. 9, 10, 11 and 12.

* Week #2: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Aug. 16, 17, 18 and 19.

* Week #3: Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Aug. 23, 24, 25 and 26.

Sessions are held at the Glen Ridge Senior-Community Center (train station), 228 Ridgewood Ave., Glen Ridge.

Registration for the four-session (Monday through Thursday), eight-hour program is $150.

Mail registrations to: Glen Ridge Recreation, 228 Ridgewood Ave., Glen Ridge, NJ 07028. The registration deadline is Friday, Aug. 6.

— For more information, e-mail Paul Byrne paul.byrne@verizon.net.

Via NorthJersey.com.

By this point most of us have heard about the Russian spy ring exposed by the federal government, and starring a pretend-couple who lived in Montclair. Montclair has since become a popular one-liner for those looking to poke fun at the rather ineffectual spies.

David Denby in his review of “Salt” in The New Yorker (8/2/10) writes,

What follows—assassination, threats to the American President, a possible missile strike on the Middle East—is perhaps a little overblown; the actual Russian sleepers who were recently booted out of the country seem to have mainly kept a close watch on top-secret goings on in Montclair, New Jersey.

Irina Aleksander of the New York Observer‘s Daily Transom notes that although Montclair has a lot going for it (“two movie theaters, three firehouses, 18 public tennis courts, 42 houses of worship and a population of about 38,000″), what it does not have are state secrets that would necessitate undercover Russians. What might the Russians have discovered instead?

1. That the Spring Pea Risotto at Raymond’s is terrific.

2. That Stephen Colbert used to teach Sunday school at St. Cassian’s Parish.

3. That the mayor of Montclair’s main credential was that he used to own the town bike shop, according to James Percelay, a Montclair resident and TV producer.  

4. That Montclairians often talk about something called the ‘Migration Route’-Upper West Side to Park Slope to Montclair.

5. That “people say we’re 20 minutes west from New York, but really by any means it takes an hour,” David Carr, New York Times columnist and longtime Montclair resident, suggested.

6. That there are so many Montclair residents who work in media that gifts at PTA fund-raisers are often tickets or backstage passes to David Letterman, The Daily Show or Saturday Night Live.

7. That the average Montclairian’s schedule pivots around his or her kid’s soccer schedule.

8. That “children’s finals are often discussed in terms of ‘We’-as in ‘We have a final next week in math,’” according to Jim Axelrod, CBS News chief White House correspondent and Montclair resident.

9. That the Montclair mothers can often be seen in packs at the Starbucks on Church Street most mornings, wearing gym clothes and oversize diamond studs.

10. That there are two Whole Foods in the area, two miles apart.

The list goes on here, and includes the funny, silly, true, and exaggerated.

And of course, Montclair’s own fifteen-year-old Jessie Gugig best encapsulated the strangeness of post-Cold War Russian spies living in Montclair of all places when she joked,

“They couldn’t have been spies. Look what she did with the hydrangeas.” (New York Times)

South Orange Performing Arts Center

 For those of us who opted for the staycation this year, ArtsMaplewood and SOPAC offer a welcome distraction:  Free Outdoor Performances for Kids & Families  Kids: bring your parents to this event, grab your red-checkered picnic blanket, but leave the basket at home. Whole Foods will be on site selling delicious meals for the family.

Wednesdays in South Orange (Cameron Field in Meadowland Park)
Thursdays in Maplewood (Memorial Park)

Two Performances Each Day at 5 & 6:30pm

Wed, Aug 19 & Thu, Aug 20
Little Red Rosie and the Three Big Pigs  (I am proud to mention that friend and colleague, Nancy Chu -who moonlights in the theater-wrote and directed this performance)

Wed, Aug 26 & Thu, Aug 27
Brady Rymer and the Little Band That Could